Universal Militarism Versus Demilitarized Society – Ep 53

February 5, 2016 Robert Thurman

According to Professor Thurman, the only effective institutional opposition to militarism in the history of humanity has been monasticism. He argues that monastic institutions enable the inversion of warriors. The militancy of the warrior is introverted, so that the monk or nun battles with his or her own inner demons of selfishness, anger, greed, and so on. In this podcast Professor Thurman suggests that dharma practitioners can win the inner battle, and when they constitute a large community, create something like a “peace army” for the society.

This episode is an excerpt from the lecture “Tibetan Buddhism: Historical and Philosophical Developments,” given at Nalanda Institute in New York City, on October 1, 2015.

Heated words, cool malice, deadly feuds, the furious rush of adrenaline-anger is clearly the most destructive of the seven deadly sins. It can ruin families, wreck one's health, destroy peace of mind and, at its …